Corsets are bad for the rib cage aswell i heard, but it did make you're rack nice!lol.
Were lucky us girls today, we can wear corsets for a specical event but then we can choose not to wear them ever again.

Brendan, there was fat people in 1912 i agree, but there still not obese or obese like in todays standards.
But i am shock thy are a little big bigger than i expected though.
Take a look at the modern obese photos of pepole and you'll see that 1912 fat people are only big boned or fat!Thanks for suppling some photos.

which, among other things, shows that 'starvation diets' were well enough known in 1905 to warrant inclusion in the headline, AND that the dangers of various weight loss schemes were ALSO known to women of the era.

Also, interesting to note...although kind of gross...three of the Jack the Ripper victims were obese (Tabram/ Nichols/Chapman) while ONE was emaciated (Eddowes) one was of seemingly healthy body weight (Stride) and one was unclassifiable (Kelly). So, even amongst the lowest of the poor, in this TOTALLY random sampling, 50% were obese while only one showed signs of food deprivation.

Kelly was described as healthy at one time in White Chapel by neighbors. There an illustration of her as she was in life done for the Police Gazette. Of course after she lived there a while as an alcoholic her weight would probably fluctuate because of her life style. The illustration can be found here.

Thing about Mary Kelly is that even people who KNEW her gave opposing descriptions. Some said she was 5' 7", slender, and fair. Others said she was short and stout, with fair hair. The only agreement, in any descriptions, are that she was "pretty" and had fair hair. Some said she had a lisp. Others said she affected a French accent, while still others described a brogue. She claimed to be from Ireland, but also claimed to be from Wales. No family ever came forward, so her true identity remains unknown.

Interesting to note, as well, is that the only Ripper victim who was known to have been engaging in healthy activity prior to her death (The emaciated Katharine Eddowes, who had been doing farm work ~ hop picking~ until the week of her murder) was in worse physical shape than even Annie Chapman. Chapman, although terminally ill and an alcoholic, STILL managed to maintain what was then called a 'fine stout figure.'

I guess there's something about Mary. I guess it depends on who was being interviewed on Mary's height. To some tall people she might of appeared small. Or to a short person she might of appeared tall. Also on her weight living in Whitechapel probably sucked the fat right off her as she lived there and as her alcoholism progressed. Alcoholics aren't know generally for their appetites.

Eddowes was slender because Hop Picking is hard work. Burned all the fat off the lady.